Stop abusing GitHub stars • Hacker News Board

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#31

Post by untog » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:32 AM UTC

skinnymuch wrote: post #23

judge2020 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The second fully Korean comment goes into it: [G translate] > In GitHub, the weight of Star is heavier than you think. It is absolutely meaningful to mix in some leaps as to how devoted to the project are contributors, how high the completeness is, and how useful it is.

Do Twitter or IG followers not mean something? They don’t have the same weight as GitHub stars, but you’re def going to be perceived differently if you have a lot of IG followers and not too many follows. I assume Twitter is the same.

I imagine professional Instagrammers and Tweeters(?) feel the same way about their RTs, likes and followers. But the vast majority of people on the platform are amateurs who don't care so much. GitHub has a far higher proportion of "professional" users in that context.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#32

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:34 AM UTC

captn3m0 wrote: post #14

JohnTHaller wrote: post #12

It looks like SK Telecom (South Korea phone company) was paying people to sign up for GitHub and star things via a contest for gift cards and such. The project runner being starred, kyungtaak, was apparently complicit in it (according to Google Translate of the GitHub comments). They shut it down once the bad publicity started, deleted the original site promoting it, and archived the GitHub repo.

How’s this any different from all the “Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway” promotions that happen?

[deleted]

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#33

Post by sinoru » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:36 AM UTC

captn3m0 wrote: post #14

JohnTHaller wrote: post #12

It looks like SK Telecom (South Korea phone company) was paying people to sign up for GitHub and star things via a contest for gift cards and such. The project runner being starred, kyungtaak, was apparently complicit in it (according to Google Translate of the GitHub comments). They shut it down once the bad publicity started, deleted the original site promoting it, and archived the GitHub repo.

How’s this any different from all the “Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway” promotions that happen?

I thinks it's little different than Twitter RT or Favorite, It's used as a some kind of rating. So it seems like "Give us nice scores on Rotten Tomatoes to enter out Giveaway".

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#34

Post by gpcrash » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:41 AM UTC

captn3m0 wrote: post #14

JohnTHaller wrote: post #12

It looks like SK Telecom (South Korea phone company) was paying people to sign up for GitHub and star things via a contest for gift cards and such. The project runner being starred, kyungtaak, was apparently complicit in it (according to Google Translate of the GitHub comments). They shut it down once the bad publicity started, deleted the original site promoting it, and archived the GitHub repo.

How’s this any different from all the “Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway” promotions that happen?

Not so different. It seems that typical overreacting people overthinking things.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#35

Post by tacomplain » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:55 AM UTC

IMO it's github fault to use this star gimmick. Likes, stars, upvotes... all of these are dopamine hits disguised as curation or rating... The UX designers or engagement/growth hackers or whatever that plans and are responsible for these should try to predict the consequences of a system so easily exploitable to be implemented. Most successful MMOs have whole economies balanced, how can a 1 variable (can be more considering forks, contributors etc) economy be this open? Of course someone would exploit it. Github could hide forks and contributors but it could eliminate stars, since it brings nothing to the table more than virtual ego. Stop the likefication of software. We need to go back to free as in freedom, not free as in gratis.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#36

Post by lone_haxx0r » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 4:58 AM UTC

envolt wrote: post #28

captn3m0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How’s this any different from all the “Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway” promotions that happen?

> Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway That's for promoting your brand. > Signup and Star and get coupons That's against the open-source ecosystem spirit, where the number of stars is a measurement of project popularity.

The number of stars means absolutely nothing. I don't understand why people care so much about an insignificant counter in a proprietary platform.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#37

Post by romaniitedomum » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 5:44 AM UTC

tacomplain wrote: post #35

IMO it's github fault to use this star gimmick. Likes, stars, upvotes... all of these are dopamine hits disguised as curation or rating... The UX designers or engagement/growth hackers or whatever that plans and are responsible for these should try to predict the consequences of a system so easily exploitable to be implemented. Most successful MMOs have whole economies balanced, how can a 1 variable (can be more cons…

I agree completely. Github is primarily a social network site. Code on Github is what tweets are on Twitter, or images on Instagram. Grist for the social media attention mill! And just like every other social media site, it's being gamed by the egotists and the self-promoters and the marketers and the fakers.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#38

Post by TheBystander » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 8:08 AM UTC

hnaccy wrote: post #15

What is the benefit for SKT of the stars? Just make project look more popular? Seems odd.

Because of their wrong KPI system. The owner of the repo previously said that their work will be evaluated by the number of stars.

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#39

Post by dpau » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 8:13 AM UTC

judge2020 wrote: post #25

skinnymuch wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do Twitter or IG followers not mean something? They don’t have the same weight as GitHub stars, but you’re def going to be perceived differently if you have a lot of IG followers and not too many follows. I assume Twitter is the same.

I feel the comment well covers why GH stars feel more immportant; starring a repo is something you do specifically when you feel the repo really helps you out, you feel like you may need it in the future, or you think someone put a lot of effort into something and executed their idea well. That personal measurement, the number of people [developers] who think a repo is helpful specifically for their use, gives the re…

I completely agree, and I myself use GH stars for those meaningful purposes. But it's completely naive to assume that entities won't continue to gamify or politicize GH stars. In fact we know that's happening, and because of this stars is already a completely untrustworthy indicator. There needs to be a better metric for quickly ascertaining "usefulness".

Re: Stop abusing GitHub stars

#40

Post by TheBystander » Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 8:15 AM UTC

gpcrash wrote: post #34

captn3m0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How’s this any different from all the “Follow on twitter, and RT to enter our Giveaway” promotions that happen?

Not so different. It seems that typical overreacting people overthinking things.

Well, not actually. it's more like bribing people in an exploitative method. Think of making multiple falsy accounts only to give an upvote to the repo.